Killington: Devil's Fiddle - will it see snowmaking this year?

[frankm938]

Well that's great. Guess you didn't notice the major ice crust from the rain roughly 10 days ago. It then snowed ~13" two days later. Which means that any snow on the fiddle was there because of the wind being right for it. Not because of snowmaking vs. non-snowmaking base.

major ice crust??? there was no crust, i know because i skied it all day and was glad that they hadnt blown an icy base that the 14" of dry light powder would have blown off of. no crust on the golf course (upper OL under the lift) and no crust on bowling alley either. trees were great as well... shouldve been there

 

[tcharron]

Here and there? You clearly haven't been skiing the fiddle much the last few years. Once it gets skied and and bumps form on the lower part, it becomes a minefield of rocks. The upper skiers right might be skiing great, but the lower section will then be all rocks. While I can ski bumps while dodging rocks much better than the average person, I've got better things to do. I'll never trash skis skiing bumps.

All it needs is 2-3 ft of snowmaking on the lower part and upper skiers left. Once the bumps form and some natural falls on it, it will ski the same as a pure natural snow trail, but without the rocks....lol.

I KNEW it wouldn't take long for HS to go all dick again.

First off. NO, it's not getting snowmaking, OBV.

Second. Dude, move. Far away. Someplace where you can truely shine and be the uber skier you obviously are. And for the love of god, stop hanging out with us losers, and go play with the uber people.

Did I mention, STFU?

 

[Highway Star]

major ice crust??? there was no crust, i know because i skied it all day and was glad that they hadnt blown an icy base that the 14" of dry light powder would have blown off of. no crust on the golf course (upper OL under the lift) and no crust on bowling alley either. trees were great as well... shouldve been there

Sorry, I was over at pico skiing the untracked.....

Anyway, not sure if you were at Killington 12/26-27, but it rained pretty good overnight and was warm on sunday the 27th. It set up overnight and then the snow started falling on it mid day monday. Everywhere at Killington/Pico had ice under that 13" on tuesday 12/29. The top of pico had 3 ft drifts and spots blown off to sheer ice, on the natural snow trails. I guess it shouldn't be called a "crust", because it was just pretty damn solid ice. I certainly never broke through it.

On Sunday 1/3/10, when another 13" was reported, quite a few spots were again blown off to this ice layer formed on 12/28, including the top of Devil's Fiddle. That storm had a very odd wind direction, almost to the west, which blasted the snow off the top of the fiddle closing it for the next few days.

The fiddle faces southeast and is generally protected from the brunt of winds. It naturally collects a large amount of natural snow from most storms, regardless of the condition of the base snow. Enough to get open, but not enough to keep the rocks from sticking out at the bottom most of the time.

 

[Highway Star]

I KNEW it wouldn't take long for HS to go all dick again.

First off. NO, it's not getting snowmaking, OBV.

Second. Dude, move. Far away. Someplace where you can truely shine and be the uber skier you obviously are. And for the love of god, stop hanging out with us losers, and go play with the uber people.

Did I mention, STFU?

What did I ever do to this guy? Or does he just not like my style? :blink:

I think it's pretty clear at this point that Devil's Fiddle will see snowmaking in the next few days, hopefully this weekend.

 

[AdironRider]

I always laugh when everyone gets bent out of shape by you HS. Cant handle the heat get out of the kitchen if you ask me.

 

[frankm938]

Sorry, I was over at pico skiing the untracked.....

Anyway, not sure if you were at Killington 12/26-27, but it rained pretty good overnight and was warm on sunday the 27th. It set up overnight and then the snow started falling on it mid day monday. Everywhere at Killington/Pico had ice under that 13" on tuesday 12/29. The top of pico had 3 ft drifts and spots blown off to sheer ice, on the natural snow trails. I guess it shouldn't be called a "crust", because it was just pretty damn solid ice. I certainly never broke through it.

On Sunday 1/3/10, when another 13" was reported, quite a few spots were again blown off to this ice layer formed on 12/28, including the top of Devil's Fiddle. That storm had a very odd wind direction, almost to the west, which blasted the snow off the top of the fiddle closing it for the next few days.

The fiddle faces southeast and is generally protected from the brunt of winds. It naturally collects a large amount of natural snow from most storms, regardless of the condition of the base snow. Enough to get open, but not enough to keep the rocks from sticking out at the bottom most of the time.

i was there and made 7 laps on the fiddle with clifford, bobsled and pistol pete before we saw a track other than ours. the entire trail had 14" and many places had much more (we were able to hit the big drop staight on which you cant do unless there is plenty of coverage)
id like to see snowmking on the bottom, but i hope they leave the steep part alone.

 

[skiadikt]

as per today's k insider, no mention of the fiddle. mention continuing snowmaking on ol, double dipper, superpipe and dreammaker terrain park. doesn't look good ...

Posted by Tom Horrocks on January 7, 2010

Imagine swath of snow 66 feet wide and stretching for 100 miles. Or enough snow to bury a football field more than 600 feet deep. That’s how much snow we produced here at Killington with the world’s Most Extensive Snowmaking System during the month of December.

At any given time during the month of December, we had more than 250 snow guns in operation pumping out more than 7,500 gallons of water per minute. In fact, we produced more snow in December than we have for the same month in the past five years. The efforts put forth by our snowmaking and mountain operations team allowed us to expand our open terrain significantly, to the point where we now have more than 70 miles of open trails.

But we’re not done yet! Snowmaking continues on Outer Limits and Double Dipper today and throughout our 71 mile trail network, including resurfacing on Skyelark. Plus, we’re making snow for the Superpipe at Bear Mountain. Snowmaking will also return to Dream Maker this weekend as we stockpile snow for the terrain park, which Rosey and his team hope to have opened for MLK weekend.

 

[Highway Star]

i was there and made 7 laps on the fiddle with clifford, bobsled and pistol pete before we saw a track other than ours.

Was it open, or closed....? :wink:

 

[MogulQueen]

Was it open, or closed....? :wink:

HaHaHa..good one!

 

[Highway Star]

HaHaHa..good one!

I ask because, IIRC, frank has prior experience with closed trails and his pass's status.....

 

[MogulQueen]

Was it open, or closed....? :wink:

I ask because, IIRC, frank has prior experience with closed trails and his pass's status.....

I am laughting with you. I know Frank's reputation for finding good powder on the mountain.

 

[Highway Star]

I am laughting with you. I know Frank's reputation for finding good powder on the mountain.

I passed up a number of poaches that Tuesday because I didn't want to lose my pass with 5 more ski days left in vacation...

 

[WWF-VT]

Incredible that this post has reached 30 pages discussing snowmaking on one trail at a mountain with “the world’s Most Extensive Snowmaking System”. Quit bitchin and find something you like on the "more than 70 miles of open trails"

 

[MogulQueen]

I passed up a number of poaches that Tuesday because I didn't want to lose my pass with 5 more ski days left in vacation...

I don't blame you, but you pose a very good quesiton......Is a good poach on Devil's Fiddle worth losing a day pass? Would you take the risk knowing that it was the best snow on the mountain that day?

 

[frankm938]

I don't blame you, but you pose a very good quesiton......Is a good poach on Devil's Fiddle worth losing a day pass? Would you take the risk knowing that it was the best snow on the mountain that day?

it wasnt a poach. OL was closed and when we went to take a look at the fiddle to see if it was open there werent any ropes up. it may have been an oversite by the ski patrol but i wasnt going to go report that the rope wasnt up. it stayed that way for a couple more days before they finally put up a rope to close it. i didnt ski it once the rope was up. (not worth risking my pass)

 

[Highway Star]

Incredible that this post has reached 30 pages discussing snowmaking on one trail at a mountain with “the world’s Most Extensive Snowmaking System”. Quit bitchin and find something you like on the "more than 70 miles of open trails"

What's actually incredible is that Devil's Fiddle is the best trail at Killington, and yet the last for them to make snow on, if at all. I'd trade snowmaking on devil's fiddle for any of many other trails.....

 

[skiadikt]

What's actually incredible is that Devil's Fiddle is the best trail at Killington, and yet the last for them to make snow on, if at all. I'd trade snowmaking on devil's fiddle for any of many other trails.....

i'd certainly trade it for east fall or double dipper.

 

[skiadikt]

it wasnt a poach. OL was closed and when we went to take a look at the fiddle to see if it was open there werent any ropes up. it may have been an oversite by the ski patrol but i wasnt going to go report that the rope wasnt up. it stayed that way for a couple more days before they finally put up a rope to close it. i didnt ski it once the rope was up. (not worth risking my pass)

yeah there was no rope tuesday or wednesday. but it was roped i think thursday. when i saw a ski patroller at the top of bear, i asked him why it was now closed and he said it wasn't supposed to have been opened those days and said that it had been opened by "customers". i thought it skied great those days. didn't ski it once the rope went back up on it and i didn't ski sunday.

 

[ta&idaho]

I don't follow the nuances of the one-man Devil's Fiddle-snowmaking debate, but the gist seems to be that the bottom portion could use some additional snow to fill in rocky areas. Here's a solution: why don't they build another lift, accessing only the top portion of Devil's Fiddle, with downloading on the Bear Mountain Quad? Highway Star, can you drop up some plans? Maybe then you could beat two dead horses with one thread...

 

[Highway Star]

Post #300!

This thread delivers!